The private newspaper, the Bhutanese, says at least 50 percent of Nu. 435 million that was spent on the construction of the three domestic airports in the country have been lost in illegal over-payment or have been wasted through avoidable expenditure.
The Bhutanese wrote that the Royal Audit Authority in its draft report has made note of the improper use of funds, legal and ethical issues with ineligible bidders being given tenders, fake bills being honoured and documents going ‘missing’.
The paper also said that based on the draft report, the quality of work at the airports has been compromised, and a lot of the planned infrastructure is incomplete.
An over-payment of Nu. 2.5 million was supposed to have been made for paving the runway at Bathpalathang. The paper added, the required thickness of the pavement was 120 mm but RAA in its test results found that the actual thickness was only 104.67 mm. Ngultrum 20.73 million was paid to contractors for paving the airport runway.
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The report concludes that the difference is an over-payment of Nu. 2.64 million.
The draft report says at least Nu. 2 million was wasted because of the violation of environmental laws.
It appears the RAA also suspects collusion between engineers and contractors.
The Minister of Information and Communication, Nandalal Rai, says the MoIC is still holding dialogues with the RAA about irregularities concerning the three domestic airports.
He has accused the Bhutanese of being vindictive, and says any comments he makes on the matter would be preemptive as the report is still in its draft form.
